My Goaltending Tutor, My Enemy

If someone told you Tony Romo was getting helpful advice from the quarterbacks coach of the New York Giants, wouldn't you find that odd?

What if some of the Chicago Cubs were getting batting tips from the hitting instructor of the St. Louis Cardinals? Strange, right?

Welcome to the chummy world of the National Hockey League, where fans can take comfort in knowing that some of the goaltending coaches of their favorite teams help out opposing netminders.

Before embarking on his comeback season with the Philadelphia Flyers, goalie Ray Emery traveled to Calgary in August for a few weeks of intensive instruction with Eli Wilson. Never heard of Wilson? He was Emery's goalie coach during his final season in Ottawa. While Emery is now with Philadelphia, Wilson is still the Senators' goalie coach.

Joining Emery at Wilson's summer camp, among others, were Carey Price of the Montreal Canadiens and Chris Mason of the St. Louis Blues. So remember, Sens fans: don't be bummed if Price shuts out your team. Take pride in the fact that the Ottawa goalie coach helped Carey out!

The coziness in the crease doesn't end with Wilson. Nikolai Khabibulin has been an excellent netminder for most of this decade, but when the Bulin Wall has needed an offseason refresher course, he has gone to the offices of Benoit Allaire, his coach in Phoenix in the late '90s who is now with the Rangers. Backup goalie Yann Danis signed as a free agent this summer to play for the New Jersey Devils, but he prepped for his role as Martin Brodeur's backup with a week-long personal clinic with Sudarshan Maharaj -- his coach last season with the Islanders.

Carolina's Cup-winning hero Cam Ward is known to visit with Canucks goalie coach Ian Clark. On Clark's bio on the Canucks' website, it boldly details how he consulted privately with other goalies while he was a coach with the Florida Panthers.

In perhaps the most celebrated illustration of teacher and student, Vancouver goaltending great Roberto Luongo gets ready for the season by working out with his longtime mentor, Francois Allaire. After 13 seasons with the Anaheim Ducks, Allaire was hired as goaltending consultant with the Maple Leafs in June.

Defenders of these crease conflicts of interest say there's nothing wrong. Goalie gurus love to point out that Francois Allaire has worked with Roberto Luongo since he was 12. On the other hand, the argument can be made that perhaps their professional relationship should have ended once Luongo joined an NHL team at age 20 and Allaire wasn't an employee of it.

To be fair, there is sincere empathy around the NHL toward the moonlighting coaches. Although the position of goaltender is one of the important in professional team sports, most goalie coaches do not live the high life. Some are not even full-time employees of their teams. Like a Social Studies teacher signing up for Driver's Ed duty, the opportunity to pick up some extra cash with summer tutoring is too much to pass up.

But it's tough to think of a more unique coaching scenario in sports. Two boxers fighting for the heavyweight crown do not share coaches. Andy Roddick has changed coaches more than his tennis shoes, but once he turned pro he never shared one with Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi. Does Dwayne Wade improve his footwork through one-on-one sessions with an Orlando Magic assistant coach?

Only in hockey, only in hockey. In the NHL, everyone looks away and shrugs it off as just an another oddity at a position where the players are known for being a little off-center.

That is, until a goalie wins a Stanley Cup and the Conn Smythe Trophy and says in his press conference, "I'd like to thank my goalie coaches -- our guy and their guy."